1. Domestic Change in USSR
New leader: Mikhail Gorbachev
Promotes openness (glasnost)
Encourages Soviets to discuss ways to achieve economic & social reform
Perestroika (economic restructuring) aimed at reforming Soviet economy
He used glasnost and perestroika to open up and change the structure of the Soviet Union.

2. Economic Change Begets Political Change
Communist party loosens its grip
Democratization permits elections with more than 1 candidate!
Foreign policy changes too: arms race too costly, Eastern Europe a burden
Glasnost poster from The slogan is "Be Bold, Comrade! Openness- Our Strength!”
Many states within the Union saw an opportunity to take advantage of the new openness and to provoke a spirit of nationalism and independence.
In December 1989, the Communist Party of Lithuania declared itself independent of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies responded by declaring Lithuania’s proclamation null and void. But they did say that succession would be possible if proper procedure was followed.
The problems for Gorbachev were twofold: first, he had to appease the communists in Moscow who were against any type of conciliation; second, he had to appease the liberals who wanted reform.
"Be Bold, Comrade! Openness- Our Strength!"

3. Reform Spreads Behind Iron Curtain
Solidarity movement in Poland under Lech Walesa
Banned by Jaruzelski, legalized in 1989
Won elections in 1989 & 1990
Hungary is next
Reformers depose Communist Party leaders
Dissolve the party
1990 Non-Communists in power
By 1976, the economy of Poland was in serious difficulty. Discontent mounted until 1980, when Poland was crippled by strikes and stoppages.
Shipyard workers at Gdansk, Poland went on strike – against Communist laws. The strikes were led by a newly created union, Solidarity, and were led by an electrician Lech Walesa (1943-).
The union became so popular that millions of workers joined. Faced with opposition from the Polish Pope John Paul II, millions of workers, and rise of worldwide support the government was forced to back down and they agreed to accept the union so long as the union did not participate in politics.
Before the end of 1980 the government announced that they would recognize the union. But in December 1981, General Jaruzelski imposed martial law and suspended Solidarity.
In a wave of protests the Communists arrested key figures including Walesa. Troops brutally suppressed all demonstrations and in 1982, the government declared Solidarity illegal again.
The economy floundered and the Polish people became increasing critical of the Communists. The government overwhelmingly lost a 1987 referendum over increasing prices. The government acted anyway.
Almost immediately strikes and stoppages erupted across the country as the people called for Solidarity to be legalized. Under increasing pressure the government was forced to ask Solidarity to join talks about stopping the trouble.
These talks resulted in the free elections of 1989 (even though the majority of seats in the lower house would be reserved for the communists). The Solidarity candidates won easily.
The Polish communists, pressured by Gorbachev, accepted their loss. Walesa was elected president in December 1990.

4. Czechoslovakia:The Velvet Revolution
The change of power in Czechoslovakia happened much faster than in East Germany. The economy, like other eastern European countries was struggling when word reached Prague about the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Demonstrators massed in Prague to demand reforms. The police responded by using violence to disperse the crowds.
The next day even more protestors gathered in the same spot. Protestors called for a general strike as word was circulated about the mobilization of troops outside the city.
The Czech Communist Party did nothing to stop the protests and on November 9, 1989, they all resigned.
The protestors formed the Civic Forum led by dissident playwright Václav Havel.
Once again Gorbachev advised the authorities not to resist the reform movement.
In December the Federal Assembly elected Havel president of Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia:The Velvet Revolution

5. Honecker opens Berlin Wall
The Last Holdout…
East German Leaders refuse to embrace change
Hungary allows E Germans to cross into Austria to W Germany
E Germany closes borders generating protest
E German police refuse to crack down on protesters
East Germans were leaving their country in greater numbers by escaping through Hungary. In May 1989, the Hungarians removed the barbed wire from their border with Austria.
East German leader Erich Honecker gambled by not taking action against those leaving, he believed if Germans could travel they would return.
The trickle became a flood and 350,000 East Germans left by In October 1989, Gorbachev visited East Germany and thousands of protestors shouted his name.
Ironically, the Soviet leader appeared to stand for everything the East German government did not. Gorbachev told Honecker that soviet troops would not help him.
Honecker ordered troops to open fire on protestors, they refused. Honecker, ill and aged, was forced out and replaced by Egon Krenz.
On October 23, Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze proclaimed that every Eastern European nation is free to choose their own future. So in November 1989, the East Germans opened the Berlin Wall.
9 November 1989
Honecker opens Berlin Wall

6. Reunification Desired by many Germans Feared by many Europeans
Challenges: incorporate bankrupt E German economy into W Germany

7. Domino Theory… Czechoslovakia - 28 October 1989
Romania - 25 December 1989

8. August 1991 Coup Boris Yeltsin (mayor of Moscow) critical of Gorbachev
Elected President in 1991
Communist Old Guard sees Gorbachev as responsible for weakening of USSR
Hardliners detain Gorbachev & demand his resignation
Tanks roll into Moscow
Protestors Parliament
Yeltsin denounces coup
Troops refuse to fire on Parliament
Gorbachev returns to Moscow
By 1991, hard line communists, who still were very powerful in the government and the KGB, were becoming increasingly concerned about Gorbachev’s policies.
On August 9, 1991, a group of these right wing communists staged a coup in Moscow. Thanks in part to the quick action of Yeltsin the coup failed, but their actions did speed up the break up of the Soviet Union.

9. Dissolution of USSR
Gorbachev resigns as general secretary of Communist party
Parliament votes to stop all party activities
By December 1991 USSR had broken up into 15 independent republics
Gorbachev resigns as President of USSR 25 December 1991
The Ukraine voted to leave the union in December 1991, quickly followed by others. The Soviet Union had disintegrated and had been replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
On Christmas Day 1991, Gorbachev resigned and handed the country over to Yeltsin. Boris Yeltsin was a proponent of a free market economy and committed to maintaining the reform movement.
Problems of nationalism in regions such as Chechen, rising unemployment, and increased crime have plagued Yeltsin; however, he was reelected in 1996.

10. Vladimir Putin 2000 - present

11. Independence in Romania
Change in Romania is in sharp contrast to change in other Eastern European nations. Only in Romania did the government forces fight back when Nicolae Ceausescu ordered his troops to open fire on protestors.
Ceausescu vowed to stop all reform in his country and he pledged to use whatever means necessary to keep Romania under the control of himself and his family. To save money to pay back foreign loans Ceausescu cut back the importation of food and rationed electricity.
In 1989, Ceausescu ordered the relocation of thousands of ethnic Hungarians. A Hungarian pastor denounced the move and called for democracy. The Romanian secret police broke into his house and beat him.
Once word spread, the people formed a human chain around his house. Demonstrations broke out across the country as years of frustration found a voice.
Ceausescu ordered the army to open fire on protestors, the army refused. Fearing losing control Ceausescu ordered his security forces to move in. The Securitate shot three army officers for disobeying orders and then open fire on the demonstrators.
Protests spread across the country. Once when a demonstration outside the royal palace prevented Ceausescu from being heard he ordered the troops to open fire on the crowd. The soldiers refuse and Ceausescu had the minister of defense executed. The Securitate opened fire and in the ensuing turmoil hundreds were killed.
Ceausescu and his wife, Elena tried to escape, but were captured and put on trial for murder and embezzlement. They were tried on Christmas Day, by a court that had no legal basis, found guilty, and executed. In their wake a number of political parties appeared.
In the 1990 elections the National Salvation Front won a majority of seats, with Ion Iliescu, a friend of Gorbachev, being selected as president.

12. Growing Nationalism Comes to a Head...
Germany in World War II occupied Yugoslavia, but opposition from the resistance movement was a continual thorn in Hitler’s war aims. After the war there was a civil war with the Communists led by resistance leader Marshall Tito.
In 1946 Yugoslavia was Communist with six republics.
After Tito died in 1980 there was no strong leader to keep the peace and consequently, separatist movements appeared.

13. Slobodan Milosevic “A Greater Serbia”
Emphasizing nationalism Slobodan Milosevic became the leader of the Serbian Communist Party in Was president of Serbia from 1989 to 1997, & president of Yugoslavia of 1997 to 2000.
Milosevic resigned the Yugoslav presidency amid demonstrations following the disputed presidential election of 24 September 2000.
He was arrested by Yugoslav federal authorities on 31 March 2001on suspicion of corruption etc. Also arrested by the International Criminal Tribunal (UN) on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity. Initial investigation faltered for lack of hard evidence. So Serbian PM Dindic sent him to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes.
Conducted his own defense, trial ended before a verdict because he died.

14. In 1991 war broke out when Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence. Milosevic refused to acknowledge claims and sent the Yugoslav army into Slovenia, but without much success.
Later the same year he sent the army into Croatia. Civil war spread to B-H in 1992, which had also declared its independence. Serbs make up abut 30% of population in B-H, reuse to live under Bosnia Muslinms.
Most European nations recognized Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia in 1992, but this did not stop Milosevic from using the army to remove Bosnian Muslims.
Serbs and Croats tried to create enclaves in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which resulted in widespread ethnic killing. The term for the slaughter of thousands of innocent men and women was ethnic cleansing.
In 1995 the Bosnian Muslims and Croatians went on the offensive and successfully gained much of the land that had earlier been taken away. July 1995, Bosnia Serbs overran Srebrenica (Muslim city declared by UN to be a safe area) & killed several thousand civilians.
Worldwide condemnation of ethnic cleansing prompts NATO bombing stopped the Serbs from retaliating.
The Dayton Accords, signed in 1995, led to a formal peace signed in Paris in December The peace lasts today because of the presence of thousands of NATO peace-keeping troops.

15. Spread of Conflict: Kosovo
Albanian Muslims in Kosovo hoped for restoration of self-rule. Got nothing from Dayton Accords.
Kosovar militants form KLA and began fight for independence. Serbian repression of Kosovars increases & in 1998 Serb forces attack KLA & civilians.
US & west threatens Milosevic with air raids if he doesn’t withdraw Serbian troops form Kosovo.
Milosevic refuses & NATO forces begin bombing in March Serbs drive nearly 800,000 Kosovars into exile. Milosevic withdraws.

16. “Create a kind of a United States of Europe” Development of EEC
European cooperation began in 1948, when three countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, and Holland created a customs union called Benelux which was intended to remove internal barriers and erect tariffs to protect their trade.
Also in 1948, 10 countries met to create a Council of Europe – the British refused to cooperate.
In 1950, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman developed the idea to economically unite the steel and coal industries in France and Germany. This idea became the Schuman Plan and a few years later it evolved into the European Coal and Steel Community.
Extending the cooperation, in 1951, France, West Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries formed the European Coal and Steel Community under the presidency of Jean Monnet of France.
The purpose was to create a common market for the six nations in steel and coal products. The success of the ECSC prompted the nations to try to expand even more.

17. Treaty of Rome 1957 France, Italy, Belgium,Luxembourg,
The Netherlands and West Germany
In 1957, the same six signed the Treaty of Rome, which created a large trade free area called the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market. It aimed at allowing the free movement of workers and capital, eliminating trade barriers, and protecting agriculture.
Britain vociferously refused to join; preferring instead keep the British Commonwealth countries as her trading partners.
The Treaty of Rome also created the European Atomic Community (Euratom) to coordinate non-military atomic research.
In response to the economic competition in 1960, Britain created the European Free Trade Association with Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, and Portugal.
In 1967, the three organizations, Euratom, ECSC, EEC, formed the European Community.
In 1963 Britain sought entry into the Common Market. They were twice vetoed by French President Charles De Gaulle. Nevertheless in 1973, Britain, Denmark & Ireland joined.
Creation of EEC

18. From European Community To European Union
Spain & Portugal join in 1986.
Single European Act of 1986 laid out framework for establishing a single market: free movement of labor, capital & services (added to free trade in goods). Went into effect in 1993 (after ratification by member states).
EC gets renamed: European Union
In December 1991, the EU members approved the Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union), which would create a single economic union of all its members.
Acceptance of the Maastricht Treaty singled the final step in the creation of a European Union that started almost half a century earlier. Citizens of the union would be allowed to move freely from one country to another, tariffs would be removed, and a common currency, the Euro would be introduced.
1995 Austria, Finland, Sweden
1986 Single European Act
1991 Maastricht Treaty

19. Economic Unification of Europe Target Date: 1999
Set 1999 as target date for establishment of single currency: euro.
Seen as part of an irreversible step towards political unity: Europe could compete with US economically & politically.
Had to be ratified by each member country - as they individually determined. Votes were very close, particularly when subject to popular referendum.
Since break up Soviet Union, former members of Eastern Bloc have sought to join EU. Some have been successful.
Before being allowed to join the European Union, a state must fulfill the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria.
These basically require that a candidate Member State must enjoy a secular, democratic system of government, together with the corresponding freedoms and institutions, and respect the rule of law.
Under the terms of the Treaty on European Union, enlargement of the Union is conditional upon the agreement of each existing Member State as well as approval by the European Parliament.
2004 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
2007 Bulgaria, Romania
Current candidates: Turkey, Macedonia & Croatia
Target Date:
1999

20. Main Institutions of the EU
The EU operates through a hybrid system of intergovernmentalism and supranationalism.
In certain areas it depends upon agreement between the member states. However, it also has supranational bodies, able to make decisions without unanimity between all national governments.
Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank.
The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. It is intended to act solely in the interest of the EU as a whole, as opposed to the Council which consists of leaders of member states who reflect national interests.
The commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It is currently composed of 27 commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state. The President of the Commission and all the other commissioners are nominated by the Council. Appointment of the Commission President, and also the Commission in its entirety, have to be confirmed by Parliament.
The European Parliament forms one half of the EU's legislature. The 785 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years.
Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats. The Parliament and the Council form and pass legislation jointly, using co-decision, in certain areas of policy.
The Parliament also has the power to reject or censure the Commission and the EU budget. The President of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.
The Council of the European Union (sometimes referred to as the Council of Ministers) forms the other half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member states and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed.
The judicial branch of the EU consists of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU.
The Court of First Instance mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts, and the ECJ primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.